1. Technical Field
Various embodiments of the present disclosure relate to photomasks used in lithography processes and, more particularly, to photomasks for reducing thermal stress generated by heat.
2. Related Art
In general, a semiconductor device may include a plurality of patterns disposed over a semiconductor substrate. The patterns may be formed using a photolithography process and an etch process to realize active elements and/or passive elements. The photolithography process may be used to form photoresist patterns. More specifically, the photolithography process may be performed by coating a photoresist material on a target layer to form a photoresist layer, by selectively exposing portions of the photoresist layer to light with a photomask, and by developing the exposed photoresist layer to form the photoresist patterns. The photoresist patterns may be used as etch masks for patterning the target layer. As such, the photomask may be used to transfer predetermined patterns onto the photoresist layer and may be generally comprised of a light transmission substrate and a plurality of transfer patterns disposed on the light transmission substrate.